Hairy, tall and big of foot? Not so: DEC

Agency, in letter to enthusiast, assures creature is mythical

Updated 7:33 pm, Wednesday, November 21, 2012

BIGFOOT--this is a still photo made from a 16mm film made by Ivan Marx showing the manlike creature, also known as the abominable snowman or yeti 11/1/78--2--

(Ivan Marx, DG)

BIGFOOT--this is a still photo made from a 16mm film made by Ivan...

A tourist poses with a two-story high statue of Bigfoot outside the 'Bigfoot Wing' of the Willow Creek-China Flat Museum in Willow Creek, Calif., June 5, 2000. The struggling ex-lumber town expanded their existing local museum to include the new 'Bigfoot Wing' with the hopes of attracting more tourists to the area.

(RICH PEDRONCELLI, AP)

A tourist poses with a two-story high statue of Bigfoot outside the...

"This mythical animal does not exist in nature or otherwise," according to a Nov. 6 letter from DEC's Chief Wildlife Biologist Gordon R. Batcheller.

Batcheller was writing to Peter H. Wiemer of Chautauqua, a Bigfoot enthusiast who had asked DEC to provide endangered species protection to the creature.

The letter was first reported Tuesday by YNN on its State of Politics blog.

"I understand ... that some well organized hoaxes or pranks have occurred leading some people to believe that such an animal does live," the biologist wrote in the letter, sent at the behest of DEC Commissioner Joe Martens. "However, the simple truth of the matter is that there is no such animal anywhere in the World. I am sorry to disappoint you."

Batcheller ends his letter on a positive note, pointing out the "great richness of naturally occurring wildlife" in New York, and the DEC's work to manage it properly, "including highly regulated hunting and trapping opportunities."

"It's all good mambo," Wiemer said Wednesday in a phone interview, referring to the media attention that had resulted from the agency's determination.

"Obviously, the DEC wants to play it safe," he said. "They don't want to get ridiculed by their own people or by politicians."

Wiemer is the organizer of the Chautauqua Lake Bigfoot Expo ("It's the only Bigfoot convention in New York State"), which will hold its second annual gathering in April.

In case you're wondering: Wiemer himself has never seen Bigfoot, aka Sasquatch — though he's heard convincing firsthand accounts from many who insist they have encountered the beast.

He's concerned that new attention paid to Bigfoot, including the Spike cable TV channel's recent offer of a $10 million "bounty" for proof of its existence, will result in tragedy.

"I don't agree with that approach," Wiemer said. "I'm trying to prevent Bigfoots in New York state ... from being shot."